Parcel-rack.



No. 815,201. v ,PATENTED MAIL-l3, 1906.

F. L. MOGLENNAN- PARCEL RACK.

APPLICATION FILED OUT. 13, 1905.

' UNITED STATES FREDERICK L. McCLENNAN, OF ALBANY, NEW YORK.

I PARCEL-RACK.

, Specification of Letters Patent.

PATENT oEEIoE.

Patented March 13,1906.

Application filed October 13, 1905. Serial No. 282,530.

To all whom it may concern: I

Be it known that I, FREnERIoK L. Mo-

CLENNAN, a citizen of the United States, re-

siding at Albany, in the county of Albany and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Parcel-- Racks of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to parcel-racks for railway passenger-cars; and the objects of my invention are to provide a rack which may be readily put up andtaken down for refinishing and cleaning and one which will be self-draining, having no parts to retain the liquid solution to which it is subjected in the process of refinishing. I attain these results by means of a rack constructed as illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Flgure 1 is partly a plan view and partly a sectional view of a portion of my rack, the couplings. and the tubing which hold the supporting-body of the rack to thebrackets being in section and the balance being a plan view. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section at X X,

imilar letters refer to similar parts throughout both views.

It-is well known that the parcel-racks in railway passenger-cars become tarnished and soiled, so that when the passenger-cars come to the shop for repairs the racks are taken off and placed in various solutions for cleaning and refinishing. With racks held together with screws or bolts and in which the supporting-body is composed of wire or independent bands crossing each other when the racks aretaken from the solution forreplacing in the cars the solution will remain in the crevices and will be held between the wires and bands, so that after being placed in position it will drain out and either drop on the cushions or passengers or run down and discolor portions of the racks, it being impossible to thoroughly dry them in the limited time and space allowed. To overcome these diificulties, I construct a rack in which the supporting sides are attached to the end brackets by hollow tubing, having openings through the length of it from end to end, and the mesh or supporting-body upon which the parcels are placed is woven or cast together, so as to leave no crevices or open space.

Referring to the draWings, A is one of the end brackets attached to the side; of the car.

B B represent the mesh or supporting-body of the rack, extending from one bracket to the other and designed to support the parcels. The

rack. E is the other part of the cougling,

tion of the body of the rack to the brackets A.

mesh B B is supported between by two tubes 0, to which it is attached. The front tube only is shownin the drawings. The rear tube is constructed exactly the same and coupled 6o 4 to the end brackets in the same'manner. The

tubes C are detachably connected to the end one end of which fits around the part be- 7 5 tween the shoulder d and the bracket A, so as to freely revolve around the part D, but be retained thereon by the shoulder d. The other end of the part E, extending beyond the end of the part D, is provided with screw- 80 threads, arranged to meshwith'screw-threads on the ends of the tube C. By screwing the part E upon the end of the tube 0 the tube C may be drawn in. close contact with and held firmly against the part D, thus coupling the 8 5 supporting-tubes of the rack to the end brackets, the hollow couplings, with the tubes, providing a free opening for drainage the entire length of the rack.

The tube 0 is made with an ofiset 0, Fig. 2, to which the mesh is secured, as by rivets or pins P P. I usually make the tube 0 rather thin and braze in each end short pieces of heavier pipe with screw-threads out thereon extending sufliciently beyond the tube C to be connected to the bracket by the coupling,

as above described.- The piece of pipe thus,

in efiect, becomes a part of the tube C. When large racks are used, I provide each side with one or more projections or pins R to rest in corresponding recesses S in the end brackets to furnish additional support when unusual weight is placed on the racks.

The rack is thus constructed with two tubes and coupling attachments, as above 10 5 described, one ofwhich is on the front of the rack attaching the body of the rack to the front part of the brackets A and the other is at the rear of the rack attaching the rear por- I O The body or mesh of the rack designed to receive the'parcels is cast or woven together and, as above stated, is in strips B B or in any similar form and attached to the tube 0 by riveting to the oflset of the tubing or in any similar method, by whichno crevices or spaces are left to retain any liquid. Constructed in this manner, when a car comes into the repair-shop for repairs the racks may be readily uncoupled and taken apart in sections and refinished or cleaned by immersion in different solutions used for that purpose or the whole rack may be immersed without uncoupling and the solution readily drained out through the tube E, and the mesh B being solid and attached solidly to the tubing 0 no liquid will be retained in or about the rack to drain down or to discolor the rack. The rack may be readily taken apart and put together Without screws or bolts and may be constructed in any fanciful designs desired and of any material and finish required.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. A parcel-rack for railway passenger-cars, consisting of two end brackets secured to the sides of the car, two tubes having screwthreads on each end and attached to and connecting said brackets, one at the front and one at the rear of said brackets, hollow tubular couplings connecting said tubes to said brackets, said couplings being each composed of two parts, one of said parts extending through its bracket and attached fixedly thereto and the other part attached loosely by one end extending over and around one end of the first-named part and the other end containing screw threads ada ted to mesh with screw-threads on the end of one of said tubes whereby said tubes may be con )led to said brackets leaving clear openings rom the exterior of one bracket through said. tubes to the exterior of the other bracket and a mesh attached to and supported by said tubes and extending from one tube to the other substantially as described and for the purposes set forth.

2. A parcel-rack for railway passenger-cars consisting of two end brackets ada )ted to be secured to the sides of a car, two hollow tubes attached to said brackets by hollow tubular couplings thereby leaving clear openin s from the exterior of one bracket through said tubes to the exterior of the other bracket, said tubes being made with an offset on one side of each of said tubes, a cast or woven mesh extending from one tube to the other and attached solidly to said offsets, substantially as described and for the purposes set forth.

In testimony whereof I have aflixed my signature in presence of two witnesses.

FREDERICK L. MCOLENNAN.

Witnesses:

WALTER E. WARD LOTTIE PRIOR. 

